ISLE OF PEACE DIARY Eugene Narrett The headlines said it all: March 12, "Hussein berates Israel in letter"; March 14, "Seven Jewish schoolchildren slain"; and, then, "A Time to Mourn: Hussein comforts Israelis." Telescoping the headlines gives a searing lesson in Arab skill and Jewish self-contempt. "Hussein berates; Jews slain; Hussein comforts." These dialectics are promulgated for and by the major media, and sauced with a theistic undertone: Hussein warneth, taketh away and then comforteth. Some details of what already seems like ancient history, all but forgotten amid the froth of daily "news": On March 11, it was learned that King Hussein, "Israel's staunchest Arab ally" as the media call him without irony, had written a letter berating Mr. Netanyahu for daring to build Jewish dwellings in Har Homa. The project is "a deliberate humiliation of the Palestinians," wrote the sensitive King, adding that, thanks to the Israelis, the Middle East "is fast sliding toward an abyss of bloodshed." It was deja vu all over again, as in December when a plan to build 132 apartments in Jerusalem was the PA's excuse to cry, "declaration of war." The next day, the Tsurs were murdered. So also in March, two days after Hussein's letter raised Arab hackles, one of his soldiers machine-gunned seven Jewish school girls to death on Naharayim, nicknamed "the isle of peace" to commemorate the "New Middle East" created by Oslo (1993) and Israel's 1994 "peace treaty" with Jordan. Naharayim is a small island at the confluence of the Yarmuk and the Jordan. By the world's law, it had been part of Israel since its re-establishment in 1948; more importantly, it was part of the patrimony God covenanted to the Jewish people through Abraham (Genesis 15:18-9), Moses (Deuteronomy 2:31-3:28) and Joshua (Joshua 11:16, ff). For "peace," in 1994 Naharayim was ceded to Jordan which then leased it to the Jews who had been farming it all along. Security was given over to the Jordanians, who built a watchtower and staffed it with their soldiers. Jews on the island were forbidden to bear arms. So it was that on March 13, 1997, when two busloads of Jewish schoolgirls visited, there were no Jewish soldiers to protect them. Instead, they watched helplessly from the opposite bank as the children ran down the slope, bleeding and dying as an Arab soldier machine-gunned them to death. They had, he later claimed, disturbed his prayers. Edward Abington, American consul in Jerusalem, commented that the killings "might help renew dialog,"

words which effectively made our government a proponent of Arab terrorism. Abington noted further there would be a problem if the killings led the Israelis "to harden their attitude more." Their attitude already was "hard," implied Clinton's man, since they dared "unilaterally" build homes in Jerusalem. Abington cautioned that "Arafat is deeply upset and dissatisfied with recent Israeli actions." A couple of days later, Clinton sent Abington to Gaza to stand by while the Arabs and Europeans condemned Israel. Thus heartened, on March 21 Arafat released Hamas terrorist Ibrahim Maqadmeh and, simultaneously, the Arabs struck in Tel Aviv. Clinton's men then said "both parties" should "show restraint." In response, Arafat flitted to Islamabad where he declared, "It is the duty of Muslims to rescue Jerusalem from the danger of Judaism." Then he jetted to Morocco where he told an appreciative Arab League that "the Jews are raping Jerusalem." Meanwhile, the IDF showed its restraint in Hebron, letting their young men be set afire by gasoline bombs, even as a PA flunkie in Geneva blamed Israel for infecting Arab children with AIDS. The Arabs are familiar with the excessive self-restraint of Jews and respond with escalation, a pattern repeated after the girls were murdered and continuing through April's riots in Hebron. While Jews fretted and quarreled over Har Homa, Arafat met openly with Hamas leader, Mahmoud Zahhar, who said, "all options are open" in attacking Israel. Maqadmeh called for "holy warriors carrying explosives to explode the enemies of Allah." There ensued the Tel Aviv bomb and rampaging Arab mobs in Bethlehem and Hebron screaming, "drop the olive branch and raise the gun! We don't want peace, we want Hamas!" America is considered Israel's firm ally, yet in the aftermath of the murders at Naharayim and Tel Aviv, American officials were more concerned about the "upset and dissatisfaction" of Arafat. It is like a bizarre version of "The Princess and the Pea," with Arafat the Princess and Har Homa the "pea." Clinton knows very well that even by Oslo's standard, the Israelis have the right to decide how much more of Judea and Samaria to yield. Yet, when they ceded "only" 9% more to the Arabs, the nations encouraged Arab rage and demands. The stones followed quickly. "Arafat," admitted a diplomat, "is headed back down the path of armed revolt from which he came, first by proxy, and then directly." Jordan's Crown Prince Hassan said that his father's March 9 warnings to Netanyahu had been "intended to serve the interest of peace." And Hussein exonerated himself from responsibility for the murders at Naharayim, saying, "My commitment to peace is well known." Maybe so, in the sense that for Arabs, "peace" means killing Jews. All the Jews killed in Israel by Arabs since Oslo are victims of religious "hate crimes" to use current idiom. This would be equivalent to 15,000 Americans. What if 5,000 blacks a year were murdered by white racists? What if 5000 Christians a year were murdered for reasons of religion? Would we be expected to cede part of America to the murderers? (Continued on p.7)

Outpost               - 6 -               May 1997